The deputy foreign
ministers of Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam are to meet
in Manila on December 12 as part of Philippine efforts at pushing for a
multilateral solution to their disputes, he told a news conference.

The
talks exclude China, which claims most of the sea including waters
close to the shores of its neighbours and has insisted its own disputes
be solved bilaterally between Beijing and individual claimants.

"This is one of viable options to move the issue forward in terms of (arriving at) a peaceful solution," del Rosario said.

"We need to pay attention to the fact that there are many claimants and it has to be settled in a multilateral approach."

Taiwan,
like China, claims most of the sea, which includes some of the world's
most important shipping lanes and is believed to be rich in fossil
fuels.

Del Rosario said the four-way meeting was first proposed
by the Philippines last year, in contrast to China's preferred bilateral
approach.

"We respect what (China) is suggesting, but we do not accept this," del Rosario said.

"We view the situation in the South China Sea as a threat to the stability and security in the region."

Rival
claimants Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam are all members
of the 10-nation Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).

Tensions
have increased steadily over the past two years, with the Philippines
and Vietnam accusing China of increasingly aggressive diplomatic tactics
to stake its claims.

Del Rosario's announcement came just a day
after he returned home from a regional summit in Cambodia that was
overshadowed by the dispute.

Host Cambodia had said ASEAN leaders
had agreed not to "internationalise" the disputes and confine the talks
to those between the bloc and China.

But Philippine President
Benigno Aquino publicly rebuked Cambodian leader Hun Sen, saying no such
consensus had been reached and that he would continue to speak out on
the issue.

Asked what the Manila meeting hoped to achieve, del
Rosario said Wednesday: "If we can discuss limitation solutions to areas
where we have disputes with each other, that certainly would be a good
result to the initiative."